"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" DVD release has created the sort of mystery that even Lisbeth Salander might have trouble solving.
In an eye-catching packaging move, Sony Pictures released the DVD with crudely scrawled lettering to appear that the disc had been burned and perhaps pirated (on a blank, Sony-brand DVD, natch). Fairly clever — and fitting, given that the main character of the Rooney Mara/Daniel Craig film, Lisbeth Salander, is a tattooed, punked-up computer hacker.
But the packaging for the DVD (which was released Tuesday) has also created confusion among some — at least, presumably, to Redbox customers. Redbox felt compelled to put a message on its web site informing its clientele that they were not, in fact, renting a pirated disc.
"RENTERS: The handwritten look on the disc of this movie is legitimate and is intended to look like a burned DVD," the message reads.
Also read: "Dragon Tattoo" Isn't Slaying the Box Office — But Its Sequel Is Moving Forward
Apparently, those confused by the packaging never rented the 2007 DVD release "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." Otherwise, they probably would have been prepared for the shock — because the 20th Century Fox DVD employed the exact same gimmick.
Also read: New "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" Trailer Goes Long — But It's Worth It
Perhaps the sequel to "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" should ditch Mikael Blomkvist for fellow journalist Borat Sagdiyev.